A Place Called Community

Synopsis

The possibility of community in homes, neighborhoods, schools, places of work, wherever people live.

About the Author(s)

Parker Palmer (1939- ) studied philosophy and sociology at Carleton College. Later he joined the Sociology program at the University of California at Berkeley where he received both his Masters (1962) and Doctorate (1970). While finishing his PhD, Parker Palmer went to Washington D.C. where he worked as a community organizer for two years, and then accepted a community oriented teaching position at Georgetown University.

He left Washington in order to come to Pendle Hill, originally for a year?s sabbatical and ultimately for eleven years, eventually becoming dean. At Pendle Hill, Parker Palmer became a Quaker and began writing about the relationship between community and education. His beliefs on this theme were expressed in the Pendle Hill pamphlet, A Place Called Community. Parker Palmer wrote three books during his time at Pendle Hill. This fertile period established him as an authority on the sociology and philosophy of education. After leaving Pendle Hill, Palmer taught workshops, retreats and seminars, while beginning the Fetzer Institute’s K-12 teacher formation program. The conversations that Palmer had with teachers across the country in starting that program provided the inspiration for his next book, The Courage to Teach.

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